This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2003-84707 filed on Nov. 26, 2003 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of providing a billing service for a mobile telecommunication system, and more particularly, to a post-paid billing service for a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS).
2. Description of the Related Art
In the 1970's, free phone service, which is distinguished from switchboard-based supplementary services, was first launched in the USA. The free phone service is provided from a server installed outside a switchboard via a common line signal network, using call routing. In the 1980's, the free phone service was generalized using a network architecture that provides various services. The network architecture is referred to as an Intelligent Network (IN).
As a variety of first-generation analog mobile telecommunication networks have been digitized into second-generation networks, telecommunication modes are largely categorized into the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) network according to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standards and the Industrial Standard-41 (IS-41) network according to the US Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) standards. Similarly, telecommunication modes of the third-generation networks are categorized into the European telecommunication mode based on Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access (UMTS/W-CDMA) and the US telecommunication mode based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)-2000.
In the UMTS/W CDMA-based European telecommunication mode, an IN of a telecommunication network is standardized according to the Customized Applications for Mobile networks Enhanced Logic (hereinafter referred to as “CAMEL”) standard that is a version fit for the existing IN. In the CDMA-2000 based US telecommunication mode, an IN is standardized according to the Wireless Intelligent Network (WIN) standard related to individual services.
In the GSM/UMTS, supplementary services available from all roaming networks are standardized. However, competitive mobile communication providers have been tried to provide their own services in addition to the standard supplementary services. Such a situation is, however, not coincident with a standard network architecture aiming at providing global services. Accordingly, there is a need to establish a Virtual Home Environment (VHE) in which not only a basic service providing platform can be standardized but also mobile communication providers can develop individual services, so that mobile subscribers can easily move from one network to another network and receive a service, which is equivalent to that from a home network, from a network where he/she visits.
Several toolkits are defined in a GSM Phase 2+ version, and one of the toolkits is the CAMEL that provides user-defined intellectual services. Accordingly, the CAMEL is considered as a representative common service platform that can provide Operator Specific Service (OSS).
However, although the CAMEL available provides complicated and various OSS such as a Credit Card Calling (CCC) service, it does not suggest a method and process of easily making a new OSS. Accordingly, standards for details of a process for a user to access a network that provides a new OSS are required.